hypostasis

American  

[hahy-pos-tuh-sis, hi-] / haɪˈpɒs tə sɪs, hɪ- /

noun

hypostases plural

1. Metaphysics.

   1. something that stands under and supports; foundation.

   2. the underlying or essential part of anything as distinguished from attributes; substance, essence, or essential principle.

2. Theology.

   1. one of the three real and distinct substances in the one undivided substance or essence of God.

   2. a person of the Trinity.

   3. the one personality of Christ in which His two natures, human and divine, are united.

3. Medicine/Medical.

   1. the accumulation of blood or its solid components in parts of an organ or body due to poor circulation.

   2. such sedimentation, as in a test tube.

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hypostasis British  

/ haɪˈpɒstəsɪs, ˌhaɪpəˈstætɪk /

noun

1. metaphysics the essential nature of a substance as opposed to its attributes

2. Christianity

   1. any of the three persons of the Godhead, together constituting the Trinity

   2. the one person of Christ in which the divine and human natures are united

3. the accumulation of blood in an organ or part, under the influence of gravity as the result of poor circulation

4. another name for epistasis

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hypostatic
  adjective
• hypostatically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hypostases
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hypostasis

1580–90; < Late Latin < Greek hypóstasis that which settles at the bottom; substance, nature, essence, equivalent to hypo- hypo- + stásis standing, stasis

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hypostasis hypostases

But the body pertains immediately to the human hypostasis or person, even as the soul.

From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint

Hence, as human nature is not of itself a person apart from the Person of the Son of God, so likewise it is not of itself a hypostasis or suppositum or a being of nature.

From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ as Man is a hypostasis or person.

From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint

The Logos of Philo has become an hypostasis, and walks upon the earth.

From The Christ Of Paul Or, The Enigmas of Christianity by Reber, George

In a similar way from Reason proceeds the third hypostasis or the World-Soul.

From A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy by Husik, Isaac

At the Council of Constantinople, 56 years later, church fathers responded to heresy by defining the divinity of the Holy Spirit and proclaiming that the three "persons," or hypostases, were coequal manifestations of one God.

From Time Magazine Archive

And so it is reasonable that the individuals of the genus substance should have a special name of their own; for they are called "hypostases," or first substances.

From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint

Therefore the hypostases cannot be distinguished by relations.

From Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint

We are accordingly brought before the problem of how this one substance or essence stands to the several entities or hypostases known as faculties.

From Hegel's Philosophy of Mind by Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich

You did not come here; I suppose, to argue about the three hypostases.

From Thais by Douglas, Robert B. (Robert Bruce)